


Fallen Prince of Valharia

by reverenehun



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - Medieval, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Blood, Eventual Smut, Fictional World, Gore, Growing Up Together, Happy Ending, M/M, Original Female Character(s) - Freeform, Original Male Character(s) - Freeform, Peasant!Sehun, Pining, Prince!Jongin, Protective Kim Jongin | Kai, Romance, Secret Identity, Violence, read warnings in notes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-16 00:22:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29816631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reverenehun/pseuds/reverenehun
Summary: The Kingdom of Valharia was being overthrown. While escaping from the Aldheimese soldiers, Crown Prince of Valharia, Prince Jongin, was saved by a peasant woman and her son.Jongin then kept his princeling identity a secret, for fear that his new family might be held accountable for aiding his escape.
Relationships: Kim Jongin | Kai/Oh Sehun
Comments: 46
Kudos: 83





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Includes blood, gore and violence because medieval time's medicine isn't advanced, so do not proceed if you are not comfortable with those..
> 
> Otherwise, i wish u a happy reading journey...

He clung to his mother tightly who was carrying him close to her chest. They were standing at the top of their fortified castle watching their Kingdom fall.

Jongin was crying and hiccupping. The fires and angry yellings of their soldiers and enemies terrified him.

“Your Majesty.”

Jongin, still in his mother’s arms, was suddenly being handed over to his governor. He made grabby hands towards his mother and wailed.

“My dear boy,” his mother cupped his cheeks and his heart ached watching his mother’s tears fall. “Be good and follow Garman to your quarters. Do not make a sound and never open your door unless it is me. And Garman, you know what to do if…” his mother’s voice faltered towards the end.

Jongin did not even get to speak as he held tightly to his governor. He watched his mother looking at him with sorrow and Jongin wanted nothing more than to stand by his mother and tell her it was going to be alright. Together, Garman ran back to the castle and up the cobblestone spiral stairwell to his bedchamber. 

“Your Highness,” Garman laid the crown prince down on his bed, trying to calm the crying boy. “You have to keep quiet. Let us play a game.”

Jongin’s ears perked up at the mention of games. Being the only son to the Valharian King, he never had anyone else to play wooden swords with, other than his father’s and mother’s guards, sometimes when he was done with his lessons, Garman would play with him. 

“Here,” Garman spoke shakily, he reached behind him and passed the crown prince a golden dagger engraved with their royal insignia.

Jongin’s eyes widened in anticipation. His father never let him play with real swords or daggers even when he was training. He reached forward and touched the cool metal, letting his fingers trace the intricate engravings. “Father will not allow, he will be furious if—“ Jongin tried to push the sheathed dagger back to Garman’s old wrinkly hands, who only pried his small chubby fingers open and forced the handle of the dagger onto him.

“The Queen gave you permission.” Garman swept the soft locks of the crown prince’s hair that was covering over his eyes. He had watched Jongin grow up since he was an infant. “You will unsheathe the dagger if someone forces open the door and it is not your mother or anyone from the castle.”

The seven year old’s lips were trembling. He recalled the fires he saw from above their fortress. “Are they here to take me away?”

Garman sighed and wrapped his arms around the trembling prince. “I will see to it that you will not, Your Highness.”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


He was in Garman’s arms once again after his governor put on a cloak for him. They were at the door of his bedchamber and they could hear muffled voices and the clanging of battle raiments. _Soldiers._ They did not know if they were theirs.

Garman waited until the voices and footsteps had dwindled and quietly unlatched the wooden door lock. The hallway was empty and the royal governor quietly ran towards the stairwell leading down to the dungeons. 

He was heaving by the time they reached the dark dungeon. Garman grabbed a fire torch and walked towards the far end.

“Your Highness, this is where the game starts.” He spoke to the crown prince who was still in his arms. Garman was old and frail for his age, it was a miracle considered he had carried the seven year old boy all the way here. 

Jongin began teary eyed once more. He did not like the game they were playing. Still in Garman’s arms that were now trembling with his weight, he watched his governor reach above them and unlatched a small metal door.

Clanging of boots were echoing louder towards them. Men must have found them. Garman quickly pried the crying crown prince away from him and lifted him up towards the opened latch. The boy sniffled, hands never leaving his.

“Noooo… do not leave me alone!” Jongin started crying as his governor lifted him up nearer towards the latch and forced him to climb upwards which led to the outside of their castle. The opened latch was only big enough for him to pass through. 

“Game starts, Your Highness. Stay away from the fires and soldiers. Run, my prince! Run and never come back!” Garman whispered to the crown prince above him. Footsteps had grown louder. “Go! Prince Jongin!”

Jongin watched Garman close the metal latch. His face was mixed with tears and snot. He looked up to see the fires far ahead. He reached into his pocket and curled his fingers around the dagger’s handle and unsheathed the weapon.

The prince gaze upwards to the fortress where he once stood with his mother earlier. It was now engulfed by red angry fire. He wiped his tears with the back of his hand and ran into the near forest as fast as his short legs could carry him.

* * *

“Mother, where is father?” 

Eda was patting her four year old son to sleep. “Shhh, father is making sure no bad people can hurt us.”

Sehun siddled closer to his mother. “I miss him.”

Eda sighed, she had to tell him that his father had most likely died in the battlefield. She had not heard of her husband nor his friends for several moons now. “I know, Sehun. Go to slee—“

Eda briefly saw a figure running towards their small cottage hut. She stood up slowly and grabbed a kitchen knife. 

“Mother—“

“Shhh!”

Sehun wrapped the thin piece of cloth around himself as he watched his mother stealthily walk towards their window with a knife. 

Eda watched the figure approaching closer to their hut. The figure was stumbling before hitting the ground. She gasped and looked towards her son who was sitting by their straw pallet. “Mother will be right back.”

Sehun was about to stand up, he wanted to follow his mother, but she had closed the wooden door before he could do so. 

Eda approached the fallen figure on the ground not far from their hut. “Oh! No!” Eda gasped and looked around but there was no one in the middle of the night. The figure, no, the _boy_ , who seemed just a couple more years older than her son, was laying face down, back exposed with slashed wounds. Blood was soaking through his cloak. He must have been chased. But by who? Eda hurriedly picked the boy up and carried him into their home.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


“Sehun, bring mother a bucket of water,” Eda said and started scissoring the boy’s blood stained attire off. Her heart rate quickened when she realised the boy was no commoner. He was dressed in the finest silk with gold frills. 

The boy was already unconscious but Eda could see the rising and falling of his chest. When her son returned with a bucket of water, she instructed him again, “bring me a cloth.”

“Mother, who is—“

“Right now, Sehun!” Eda hissed and Sehun hurried off again.

Eda then felt something long in the boy’s pocket. She reached in and pulled out a dagger. “Oh my god…,” Eda’s voice was shaky as she studied the intricate design of the dagger. She recognised the royal insignia engraved on the golden dagger. Her husband was the Valharian King’s personal guard. Eda had seen this insignia on her husband’s broadsword. “This can’t be…”

The boy laying right in front of her was no commoner. He was the Crown Prince of Valharia, Prince Jongin. She remembered him being a few years older than her son.

“Mother, here.” 

Eda grabbed the cloth from her son. “Sehun, I want you to stay in your room. Do not come out even if you hear anything. And do not let anyone into the house. Hear me?”

Sehun was worried. He did not know who the boy sleeping on the straw pallet was. He also looked injured. “Yes, mother.”

After her son had left, Eda stood up and closed the door of the room. She began wiping the boy down, even when she delicately dabbed the damp cloth on his opened wound, the boy remained unconscious. 

The Crown Prince was clean but he was still bleeding from the slash wounds all over his body and face. Eda then went to the corner of the room and lit up the fireplace.

Valharia had fallen, this, Eda knew. If the crown prince had escaped, it only meant one thing. The Kingdom of Aldheim had defeated their country and of course, they would wipe out the entire royal family. 

Eda threw the fine silk clothings into the fireplace. No one must know the crown prince was here. She must leave no traces. If Prince Jongin was found, he would be held captive and maybe executed. Eda would not allow that to happen to a boy. 

There was also no way the boy could survive with open wounds, he was losing blood by the second. Eda knew she had to save the crown prince. The nearest healer she knew was too far. It was too risky for the boy to be out and there was also no way he would survive the journey. 

Eda sighed shakily as she grabbed an iron rod by the fireplace where she used to probe firewood. She inserted the rod into the fireplace and waited till the end of the rod burned orange.

Her tears started to fall. It was going to be a brutal process. It was the only option left to save the crown prince. She tore the cloth she used to clean up the wounds into smaller pieces and tied the boy’s limbs by the pallet bedside. She wrapped the remaining cloth on a small wooden stave, pried the boy’s mouth open and stuffed the wrapped stave between his teeth.

Eda then went to retrieve the burned iron rod and returned to the boy. She let a hand cup the unconscious prince’s cheek and whispered, “please forgive me, Your Highness,” she sniffled as tears continued to fall. “It is the only way to save you now.”

Eda then bit her bottom lip and pressed the burning iron rod against the prince’s open wound.

The boy screamed in agony, biting into the wrapped wooden stave in his mouth.

“I am sorry, Your Highness!” Eda cried and kept chanting, holding the boy down as she watched the iron rod melt his skin and fused the wounds together.

In the other room of their small hut, Sehun cried and hugged his knees tight against his chest underneath his thin piece of blanket. He could hear the boy’s screams. He clasped both hands on his ears. His screams were brutal and Sehun was terrified. 

He did not fall asleep until the boy’s screaming stopped.


	2. Chapter 2

He woke up to a bitter smell. 

“Mother…” Sehun whimpered, he still had the image of his worried mother in his head. 

Eda fanned the stone stove, stirring the contents. “Sehun, there is some milk and oat bread. I want you to eat up and go pack your things.”

Sehun climbed onto the chair and picked a piece of oat bread. “Why?”

Eda then blew out the fire and scooped its content into a bronze bowl. “Valharia is no longer safe, Sehun. We must go.”

Was that why the boy was injured, because their country was no longer safe? “Is the boy coming?”

Eda patted her son’s head, bending down to press a kiss on his forehead. “Yes, Sehun. He will come with us. And you will be a good boy and help me, would you?”

Sehun nodded and finished his milk. “I will help.”

“Good. Now eat more, you are too skinny. Finish them and then go pack.” Eda then turned towards the other room where the crown prince laid.

She soaked the herbal liquid with a piece of linen and hovered it above the boy’s blistering skin. Lavandula leaves were said to have analgesic properties and living close to the forest gave Eda access to the many medicinal plants it offered. She lightly squeezed the soaked cloth, letting the green liquid dribble onto the boy’s reddened wounds.

When she was done, she grabbed the golden dagger by the pallet and wrapped the handle and sheath with pieces of clean linen. Prince Jongin had every right to hold onto the last piece of home he had. Eda swore she would never pawn off the crown prince’s dagger no matter how poor they were. It could be his key to go home in the future. 

Sehun did not have many things to pack. He laid out a clean piece of cloth on his pallet and began placing some tunics and loincloths in the middle. He sighed when he went and grabbed a carved wooden horse figure his father made for him when he was an infant. “I missed you, father, please come home…” he muttered, fingers curling around the carved figure as he brought it up to his lips and gave it a kiss. Sehun then placed the toy in the middle on top of his clothes. It was the most precious thing he treasured. He wrapped it up but he did not know how to tie a knot.

He ran to the other room where he knew his mother was and gasped, stopping in his tracks. The boy from last night was lying in his mother and father’s pallet, most of his head was wrapped in linen cloth with blood still soaking through. He also could see his blistering wounds all over his arms and body. 

“Mother, is he going to die?” Sehun did not know why he was crying. Maybe the sight before him scared him. He had never seen someone so terribly injured.

Eda knelt to meet her son’s height. “No, Sehun. Pri—,” she stopped before she could cause the crown prince danger. “The boy will live. Have you packed?”

Sehun never took his eyes away from the injured boy. He nodded and said, “yes, but I do not know how to knot it.”

Eda chuckled and pressed a kiss to Sehun’s rosy cheek. “Make sure the boy does not roll off the pallet, Sehun. Mother will go pack now.”

Sehun was then left with the boy. He walked up to his bandaged head and winced at how bad his injuries looked. He then bent down to press a kiss on the boy’s cheek. “Mother always gives me a kiss when I am sickly. You will be alright too because I kissed you.”

Seeing that the boy would not be getting up anytime soon, he left to help his mother pack.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


His mind was befuddled. He heard voices on and off before drifting off to sleep. He heard the voice of a woman and the voice of a boy.

Then there came a loud bang and shouts were heard. He briefly heard the familiar clanging of battle raiments.

Soldiers.

He heard angry yellings and soft pleads from a woman.

“There is only me and my sons!”

“Search the hut!” A man yelled.

“Yes, sir!”

He winced when he felt a hand grabbing his neck.

“Stop! You are hurting the boy!”

“What is your name, boy?” The man’s voice was gruff and scary.

Jongin’s throat was parched. He felt the man shook his neck and he whimpered in pain. 

“I asked! What is your name?!”

Jongin knew that men would come looking for him. He had escaped a few of them after he was attacked. He must not say who he really was. He parted his lips, it was painful to even form a sound. He let out a breath with the best syllable he could utter, “Kai…”

Eda was hugging a crying Sehun close to her chest. The yelling soldiers with their swords terrified him. Eda bounced lightly on her feet, one hand cupping his head as she tried to calm down her boy. “You will leave my house this instant!” She screamed which only made her son cling to her tightly even more.

The Aldheimese soldiers shot her a warning glare and stomped out.

Eda then collapsed on the floor while hugging Sehun tight. It was a close call. If the boy had revealed his identity, not only Prince Jongin but her and her son would be brutally executed for aiding the escape of a wanted person.

“Shhhh… it is alright, my boy. The bad people had left.” Eda brushed the tears away from his face. “We will leave now, Sehun. We will go far away to a place no bad people can find us.”

Sehun sniffled and hiccuped. He wished his father was here, he knew his father would wield his broadsword and take down those scary soldiers that made him and his mother cry.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Sehun then sat on the wooden wagon where the boy named Kai laid. His mother had made him dribble the bitter smelling simples onto Kai’s blistering skin while his mother pulled the wagon upfront. Sehun did not know where they were going. 

Sun was setting and it was getting cold. His mother never once stopped pulling the wagon filled with their belongings and with him and Kai on it. He was feeling sleepy and Kai stopped wincing now whenever he dribbled the simples on him. Kai must have gone to sleep, he figured.

Sehun then draped a thin piece of blanket over Kai and himself. He sidled close to Kai for warmth and let the rolling wagon lull him to sleep.

* * *

  
  
  
  
  
  


Eda spent three whole days pulling the wagon with the two boys. Sehun had also been obedient and never once complained about sleeping in the discomfort of a wagon. The injured crown prince also had woken up before they arrived in a new town village.

  
  


Aylesbury was a bigger town than their old home in Valharia. Eda was grateful that she managed to find a humble little hut in a village. 

Every time the crown prince spoke while Eda was pulling the wagon upfront, she was afraid he would reveal his identity to her son. Sehun was too young to understand why some things must be left unexplained.

“Your name is Kai?” Sehun had said. The injured boy with more than half his face wrapped in linen that is now soaked with the bitter smelling simples he had helped apply, nodded his head.

“My name is Sehun and I am four,” Sehun said and held up his hand, though he was not sure how many fingers four was supposed to be.

Jongin watched the boy named Sehun hold up three fingers. He chuckled and winced. His head hurt.

“How old are you, Kai?” 

Jongin watched the way the boy’s eye lit up when he answered, “I am seven.”

Sehun never had friends. Back in Valharia, the town was mostly filled with noblemen’s sons and daughters. They would never play with someone dressed in tattered rags. But the boy in front of him was dressed similar, he did not look like a nobleman's son. Maybe, Sehun finally would have a friend who would play with him. “Are you going to live with us now?”

Sehun’s eyes were dewy with hope, he was also smiling so hard that Jongin thought his rosy round cheeks looked like apples. Jongin did not know if he was going to live with them. 

Eda had slowed down the wagon and turned to look at both boys. She sent Jongin a reassuring smile. “Yes, Sehun. Kai will live with us from now onwards. Which means you will take care of each other. Understand?”

Sehun was bouncing in his seat with excitement. “I promise I will take care of Kai and you, mother.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: brief mention of sexual assault

“Can I come with, mother?” Sehun ran up to his mother who was preparing woven baskets.

Eda was no healer. But she knew a rare medicinal plant when she saw one. Now with an extra mouth to feed, Eda worked in the town’s ale house by day and in the evenings, she went into the deep forest to find rare medicinal plants to sell them to the local healers.

“No, Sehun.” 

Sehun whined and grabbed onto his mother’s kirtle. She had never once left his side. They were always together in Valharia. When his mother worked at the alehouse, Sehun and Kai would stay in the alehouse’s kitchen.

The lady owner was reluctant at first but Eda had pleaded she was a single mother and could not afford to send her sons to school. She eventually agreed on a condition that both her boys stayed in the kitchen.

“It will be nightfall soon. Go play with Kai.” Eda patted her son’s butt, coaxing him to pry his tiny hands off her kirtle.

Jongin then approached the mother and son. He knew he had inconvenienced the family. He had to make some effort to make Eda’s life easier, for she had saved his life. Jongin was only seven, but he promised himself he would grow up and protect Eda, whom he now called Mother. “Come, Sehun. Let us play a new game.”

Sehun’s eyes widened in excitement, letting go of his mother’s kirtle to join Kai at the table. “I like new games! What are we playing?”

Jongin watched the boy’s excited legs sway back and forth under the table, eager eyes looking at him as if he had hung the moon and stars. “I will teach you how to write and count. I will write and you will follow.”

Sehun had never heard of this game, he was excited to try.

Eda stiffened when she heard the crown prince was going to teach her son to read and write. Peasants never had the privilege to. With her woven baskets ready on hand and a sachet slung across her body, she approached the two boys.

Jongin began writing with a quill and a piece of dirtied parchment he managed to find on their way back from the alehouse Eda worked. Eda sat beside Sehun and Jongin looked up at her.

“There is one rule to this game, Sehun.” She stroked her boy’s head adoringly. “You must not tell others you know how to play this game.”

Sehun was confused but he loved secrets. He beamed at his mother with a finger held up to his lips and whispered, “shhh... I will not tell anyone.”

Jongin then realised what Eda meant. Teaching Sehun to be literate might risk exposing his identity and might put their family at risk. He saw Eda gave him a look and part of him felt like Eda knew something. He must not let Eda and Sehun know that he was the crown prince of Valharia. He made a promise to not burden them. He would not risk it.

“Yes, mother. We will not tell anyone.” Jongin reassured.

Eda then sighed in relief. She was glad the crown prince never once complained about his current living conditions. The boy must know he had to keep his identity a secret. “I have prepared some oat bread and milk by the stone stove. Eat, before you boys go to sleep.”

“Yes, mother.” Both boys said in unison.

Eda then turned around before opening the door. Her heart swelled seeing Sehun trying to hold the quill properly, tongue jutting out by the corner of his lips as he focused on following the writings Jongin had written.

With Jongin keeping her son company, Eda was more at ease when she had to head out to the forest.

  
  


  
Sehun was done washing himself up in a barrel of river water. He padded to his room to see Kai applying medicinal leaves on his wounds which his mother had grounded into fine powder. “Does it still hurt?” Sehun asked, eyeing the scars all over his body and the one diagonally across his face, just shy from his lips. The scars were elevated and slightly light in colour compared to his honey toned skin. Sehun wondered if he would hurt Kai if he tried touching them.

Jongin shook his head. “They do not anymore.”

Sehun’s smile then hung ear to ear, feeling proud. “That was because I gave you a kiss. Mother does that to me when I am sick.”

Jongin chuckled. The boy was innocent. He wondered how Sehun would react if he knew what caused these scars. The thought of the incident made him shudder and his chest clench tight. He still missed his own mother. He missed Garman too.

He watched Sehun skip to a corner and fetch a small little wooden figurine. It looked like a carved wooden horse. Sehun then jumped onto the pallet where they both shared and played with the horse figurine, making horse neighing noises with his lips while his small fingers made the horse gallop on their pallet.

Jongin never played with toys. His father never allowed him to. The only thing he could play with were swords and spears. Sometimes, a bow and arrow, but he had then complained that the bow was too heavy and begged his father to stop letting him train on those.

He laid down on the pallet. Jongin took the edge of the pallet because Eda said Sehun might roll down and hurt himself. He would not allow the boy to be injured because of him. “Are you not sleeping?”

Sehun then noticed that Kai was done applying the medicinal leaves to his scars and was now lying down next to him. He glanced out the window. It was night and the moon was already spilling faint moonlight into their room. His mother was not back yet and it worried him. “I cannot sleep.”

“Why?”

Sehun slumped his shoulders, feeling small without his mother. “Mother always pats me to sleep. She is not home yet. So I cannot fall asleep.”

Jongin wished he had the innocence of Sehun. As a prince, and the sole heir to his father, he was taught to be brave. Even when there was a thunderstorm and the loud roar of thunder rattled his windows, Jongin slept alone in his huge bedchamber.

“Lie down.” Jongin patted the space next to him.

Sehun pouted but he laid down anyway. He felt Kai drape over the thin piece of blanket they shared and felt his hand softly patting his hips. He somehow felt safe with Kai even though he only knew the boy not long ago. He clenched his toy horse tight against his chest and let Kai’s patting lull him to sleep.

Jongin smiled, watching the gradual slow down of the rise and fall of Sehun’s chest. He patted him until he was sure Sehun was fast asleep before closing his eyes.

  
  


* * *

_ 15 years later… _

He placed the metal rod against a flat stone and began hitting the glowing orange at the tip of the rod with a hammer. He hammered and molded it down till it was flat enough and placed it back into the fireplace.

Jongin was working for the town’s blacksmith. He had been for five years now. 

He was still waiting for the rod to burn a bright orange when the blacksmith’s daughter came into the shop’s backyard with a tankard of water.

“Thanks, Yenne!” Jongin brought the water to his lips. He noticed his fingers were blackened by coal.

Yenne blushed and slightly swayed side to side, watching him shyly. “There will be a parade at the town’s square tonight. Do you want to come?”

Jongin knew the blacksmith’s daughter had been subtly trying to ask him out for a while now. She was Sehun’s age and Jongin admitted she looked pretty. Her hair was long, silky and braided. He wiped the sweat on his forehead and heard Yenne chuckled. He looked down on his fingers and laughed. His face must be blackened by coal now.

“I am sorry, Yenne. I have to go help my mother after I have finished here for the day,” Jongin tried his best to not dishearten the lady. It was not that Jongin did not fancy Yenne, she was nice and polite, humble and bright, friendly and beautiful. But he had made a promise to himself that he would help provide for Eda and Sehun fifteen years ago. He was not one to fall back on his words.

Yenne was understanding. Jongin knew her since they were children. She and a few others were the only ones who were willing to play with him and Sehun. It was also Yenne who recommended him to her father.

Jongin helped lugged coal and delivered goods for the blacksmith when he was younger. Now that he was taller, broader and stronger, the blacksmith began teaching him how to make silver swords, daggers and spears. Sometimes when they received lesser orders, Jongin would secretly practice with the swords made for their customers.

“I understand, Kai. Your mother is Eda, right?” Yenne asked.

Jongin smiled and nodded. “She is.” He grabbed the iron rod from the fireplace and signalled for Yenne to move away.

“I heard she is learning to be a healer?”

Jongin was happy for Eda when she came home one day and told him and Sehun that she would no longer be working at the alehouse anymore. He was relieved, even. Jongin hated how dirty old men can be when they were drunk. He did not like the idea of Eda working there. Eda had a wide knowledge of medicinal plants and herbs and the town’s healer decided she could work alongside her, provided that Eda brought her some medicinal plants every now and then.

“She is. How do you know her?” Jongin began hammering the orange rod.

Yenne sat herself on one of the tables, watching Kai working on the rod. “My father was ill some time ago. We went to the healer and the lady assisting told us her son works for my father.”

Jongin’s heart warmed at the thought of Eda mentioning him as her own son to others. He knew he could never replace Sehun as Eda’s son. But the thought itself was comforting.

“Arseling!”

Jongin and Yenne both whipped their heads back to the man’s voice. 

It was Bjorn, Yenne’s twin brother.

“Father says we are closing early. Here’s your coin.” Bjorn flipped the coin towards him 

and Jongin caught it midair. Yenne clapped enthusiastically.

Jongin laughed, holding the silver coin up and giving Bjorn a salute. “Thank you, Bjorn.”

“Arseling, you are not joining us to watch the parade?” Bjorn came over and analysed the partially molded sword he was working on. He gave a thoughtful hum and nodded.

He shook his head. “Maybe next time.”

Bjorn then gave his shoulder a firm smack before slinging his arm over Jongin’s shoulder. “Next time bring your little brother along, Arseling.”

“Stop calling him that, Bjorn!” Yenne folded her arms in front of her chest. “His name is Kai.”

Jongin thanked Bjorn again for his pay and made his way back to their own little cottage.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


He loved roaming the forest, it was quiet compared to town. His woven basket was beginning to fill. His mother would be happy when she saw how much he had picked. His mother had taught him how to identify medicinal plants apart from the normal ones. While Kai worked at the blacksmith and his mother assisting the town’s healer, Sehun spent his days in the forest plucking useful flowers and medicinal leaves. 

Sehun was bent over a moss rock trying to pluck a rare bud when he was suddenly knocked over. A man hovered above him, one arm holding his shoulders down as the man straddled him, another hand held a blade to his neck.

He whimpered when the man tried to unlace his pants but before the man above him could strip him off, Sehun saw a dagger coming across the man’s throat. He recognised the scarred hand.

“You will remove yourself from the boy.”

It was Kai. 

He watched the man above him swallowed, before dropping the blade and raising both hands in the air.

Sehun quickly scooted back on the grass, still gasping. He watched Kai rounded up to the man’s front, dagger never leaving his throat.

Jongin was furious. He pressed the dagger closer and he could feel the pulse of the attacker. “The next time I see you around him, I will not hesitate.” He growled into the man’s ear who was shaking in fear. He saw the man visually traced the diagonal scar across his face and gulped. Jongin was also taller than him, he was taller than most men in Aylesbury. “Go!”

Sehun stood up shakily as he watched his attacker flee. Kai then closed their distance, pocketing his dagger and reached out his calloused hand that was stained black with coal, placing his thumb against where the man’s blade once was on his throat.

His heart raced at how close Kai was. He looked away as he let Kai examine his jugular.

“You are welcome.”

Sehun then playfully smacked his hand away from his neck and scoffed. “No wonder the Reagans call you arseling.”

When Kai said nothing but smirked in his direction, Sehun almost faltered in his steps. He bent down to collect his spilled leaves and flowers.

“They love me.” Jongin teased as he helped Sehun pick up the leaves and flowers. He thought he might have also accidentally picked some useless grass too.

Sehun picked up the basket and followed Kai towards the river bank. “I know Yenne does. She tells me she fancies you.” He was mentally pouting as he said that. He liked Yenne too, but not the way couples did. Yenne was his best friend besides Kai.

“She asked if I would like to join her at the town’s parade tonight.” Jongin began peeling away his tunics and pants.

Sehun sat his woven basket down and sat on the loam, leaning against a tree, facing the river. He felt bitter learning that information from Kai. “Are you going?” It sounded more spiteful than he intended it to be.

Jongin, in his naked glory, turned to face Sehun and rolled his eyes at him. “No? Of course not! We are going to find mother later.”

Sehun felt better knowing Kai did not agree to go with Yenne. He blushed watching Kai bathe himself in the river. The scars on his body still remained elevated and pink, though most of the scars seemed faded now that he had grown and the scars were stretched across his skin. Kai never told him how he got those scars from.

Jongin continued scrubbing dirt and coal dusts from his skin before dipping fully into the river and scrubbed his scalp. When he re-emerged from the river, he caught Sehun pouting, eyebrows pinched together and he thought he looked adorable. Jongin had learned through the years that the boy only pouted when he had something to say.

Sehun, on the other hand, was trying not to steal a glance towards Kai who was putting his tunics and pants back on. They had bathed together when they were children, but Sehun did not know since when he started developing a sense of longing for Kai.

“Come, now, stop sulking. We will pick more leaves and buds on our way.” Jongin approached the boy and reached his now clean hand out.

Sehun took his hand and let Kai pull him up to his feet. He let out a frustrated sigh. The spilled leaves and buds were not the reason why he was sulking. 


End file.
